


We Just Keep Moving Foward

by SociallyAwkwardFox (Maze_Runner_Fae)



Series: The Fox Hunts The Wolf [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fighting, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Making Up, Rain, soul animals, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 16:45:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4842881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maze_Runner_Fae/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things don't exactly get easier for Stiles and Derek after they get together, but that doesn't mean there aren't some great times intermixed with the not so great. In fact, things are kind of amazing. Their friends are kind of sick of it by now.<br/>----<br/>My best friend requested more Isaac and Ringo and this is what happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Just Keep Moving Foward

**Author's Note:**

  * For [onehaleofanadventure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onehaleofanadventure/gifts).



> My BFF fivever, marissakat, asked me for more Isaac and Ringo in the next story and this was the end result. Hope all of you enjoy this one. I do plan to have more in the future so keep an eye out.

“You’re so whipped.” Isaac rolled his eyes as he watched Derek grab all the Reese’s he could get his hands on. “I didn’t realize falling in love would turn you into such a lovesick idiot. How much longer is this honeymoon phase going to last? I think I’ve reached my limit.”

“I’m not a lovesick idiot.”

“So all that chocolate is for you then?”

Derek looked down at all the bright orange packages in his basket then to Zeke who gave him an unhelpfully silly smile that Derek was sure he picked up from Lissie who got it from Stiles. “I don’t like peanut butter.”

“I know you don’t like peanut butter. That was my point. Lovesick idiot.”

“At least I had the guts to ask out the person I like.”

“After he told you that he liked you! You didn’t exactly have to worry about him saying no when you asked him out.”

“Cora isn’t going to say no.”

The older boy and his wolf watched in amusement as Isaac and Ringo stumbled over a display of cans at the end of the aisle and went tumbling to the floor. The dingo rolled around in the cans a couple of times before standing up and nudging at his owner to get off the floor. Isaac let out a groan and rolled up his hoodie sleeve so he could inspect his elbow with a grimace. A patch of bright purple was starting to blossom over his knobby elbow where it must have hit the ground.

“Are you going to help me up?”

“No. You tripped. Pick yourself up.”

“You’re an ass. No wonder you and Stiles are Soul Mates.”

“Shut up.” Derek pulled Isaac off of the floor to keep him from complaining anymore and drawing the eyes of the other costumers. “So are you finally going to ask out my sister or do I have to keep hearing about how much of an idiot you are? Why she never complains to Laura, I’ll never know.”

“She said that?”

“Multiple times at multiple volumes in multiple ways. Please, ask her out already.”

“So this is you giving me your permission to date your sister?”

Derek rolled his eyes at the same time he grabbed a pack of Reese’s from the stand next to the checkout. “You don’t need my permission to date my sister. Have you met her? She can take care of herself, but I will warn you that I know where you live and Stiles knows how to hide a body.”

“I thought you said Cora can take care of herself.”

“She can. That doesn’t mean I’d make her kill you by herself. That’s what older brothers are for.”

“Boyd would have my back.”

“Are you really sure about that?”

“Yes?”

“That’s what I thought.” Derek dumped the rest of his basket out onto the conveyor belt and nodded politely at the girl checking him out. “You want to go warm up the car?”

* * *

 

Stiles opened the door with a flourish and a brilliant smile that made Derek want to immediately scoop him up and kiss him senseless. The sound of the Sheriff talking loudly on his cell phone quickly crushed down that desire along with the fox now nosing at his face. A bubbly laugh came out of Stiles before he could stop it and earned him a glare from Derek who looked a lot less intimidating with a fox perched on his shoulder. To make up for his laughter, Stiles plucked the fox off of Derek’s shoulder and pressed an apologetic kiss to Derek’s cheek.

“No need to look so grumpy. I love that she gets so excited to see you. It means she likes you. Now where’s my other baby.” Zeke pushed past Derek and plopped obediently down in front of Stiles with an expectant look on his adorable face. “There you are! Look at you. So freaking cute. What’s in the bag?”

Derek shuffled awkwardly and shoved the bag at Stiles. “It’s for you.”

“Really? It’s not my birthday or an anniversary. Is today a holiday?”

“No. It’s just something I picked up while I was at the store.”

“How sweet of you! Isn’t he sweet, Lissie?” Stiles pulled his hand away from where it was buried in Zeke’s fur so he could use both hands to hold open the grocery bag. “Reese’s! My favorite. Thank you, Sourwolf.”

“No problem.”

“You’re just too adorable. It’s so cute you don’t know how to take a compliment and now you’re blushing! I don’t even know what to do with you anymore. Get in here.”

“If your dad’s busy, I can come back later.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s been excited to see you all day. There’s this new deputy at the station that he’s checking in on real quick then he’ll be ready for dinner. I made lasagna.”

Derek slipped into one of the chairs surrounding the small table in the kitchen.  “It smells really good. Your food always smells really good.”

“First, you bring me candy. Now compliments. Are you sure I haven’t missed something major?”

“I’m sure, Stiles.”

“Well happy Saturday to me.”

“Did I hear Derek?” Stiles rolled his eyes at the excitement in his dad’s voice and motioned for him to take a seat at the table. “How are you doing, Derek?”

“Fine, sir.”

“I’ve told you before. There’s no need for you to call me sir.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“If you were my son, I would think you’re being a smart-ass.”

“Wow. Thanks, dad. Really feeling the love.”

“I was talking to Derek.”

Stiles put the lasagna down on the table and plopped into his seat with a dramatic sigh. “Don’t let me interrupt your bonding time. I’ll just sit here quietly.”

“Oh, hush.”

“Rude.”

“So Derek, how are your classes going?

“Good, sir.” Derek shovelled a large piece of lasagna into his mouth so Stiles would stop glaring at him. “How have things at work been?”

“Can’t complain. Beacon Hills isn’t exactly a crime zone. The most difficult thing I’ve had to do all week was talk to the elementary school kids. They’re all little demons.”

“They can’t be that bad. I’m sure you’ve seen worse.”

Stiles threw a roll at Derek’s head that bounced off and went straight into Zeke’s waiting mouth. “We’re having words after dinner, mister.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Get him, Lissie!”

* * *

 

Stiles let out content sigh and snuggled further into Derek’s arms while he watched the Soul Animals play fighting in the middle of the Hale’s living room. At the moment, all of them were piling on Zeke so he was pinned helplessly to the ground. Erica’s peacock was sitting smugly on his head, Rocky was collapsed over his back with Mika and Jinx stacked on top of him, and Ringo was sitting on Zeke’s tail like it was making all the difference in keeping him down. The only one not on top of Zeke was Lissie, but she was sitting in front of him and tauntingly licking his nose every so often.

Things looked to be completely over for Zeke, but a quick spin from his belly to his back had all the other Soul Animals thrown off him. The only ones that didn’t go tumbling to the floor were Ringo and Lissie who both immediately pounced on top of Zeke. He instantly batted Ringo away and was turning to face Lissie when she slammed into his neck causing him to lose balance. Lissie jumped up enough to readjust her position on Zeke so she was now pressing her two front paws against his neck while her back paws were pressed into his chest.

She managed to get a few seconds of triumph before Zeke switched their positions easily. Zeke grinned dopily down at her and started to lick her fur clean affectionately until he was completely satisfied with his results. The pleasant moment the two were having together was ruined by Ringo colliding into Zeke sending the two of them sprawling to the floor. Lissie shook her fur out with a disgruntled huff and marched herself over to where Derek and Stiles were cuddled on the couch.

Stiles cooed at Lissie after she jumped onto his lap and started to pet her gently. “Are they playing too rough for you or are you upset because they’re taking up your cuddle buddy’s attention? My poor baby.”

“You’re coddling her.”

“I am not. She doesn’t like to play dirty unless she has to.”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing.”

“Sure. You just judged me with your caterpillar brows.”

“I do not have caterpillar brows.” Despite what he said, Derek placed a hand over his eyebrows so Stiles couldn’t see them anymore. “They’re normal eyebrows.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Sourwolf.”

“You know what helps me sleep at night.”

Stiles cooed loudly and planted an over exaggerated kiss on Derek’s lips that had Isaac, Erica, and Cora all pretending to gag and vomit. Derek was a little surprised that Laura hadn't joined in on the fun until Mika jumped on top of them and gave a sloppy lick that crossed both of their cheeks. The two pulled apart instantly and started to wipe off their cheeks to get the wolf spit off of them. As soon as Stiles was done, he pulled Lissie out from where she was being squished under the wolf’s heavy weight and set her on Derek’s head.

“Will you two stop being all cutesy now?” Laura was looking at the two with a smug look on her face that definitely meant she was proud of herself. “One day you're going die from sugar overdose.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

“You’re a freak. I can't wait until you join the family!”

“Ah, sweetie. You say the nicest things after being a complete bitch to me.”

“And you call me the nicest things.”

Stiles gave a super sarcastic grin and thumbs up which Laura immediately returned. “You'll always be my second favorite Hale. Or third I guess.”

“Third? Who the hell beats me out for second?”

“Zeke obviously.”

“I'm passed up for second by a wolf? Are you kidding me?”

“He's certainly a lot cuter than you are.”

“That's it.” Laura pushed herself off of the couch and stomped over to where Stiles was curled up against Derek’s side on the love seat. “We’re going to fight now, Stilinski. Get up and put your dukes up.”

“How old are you? Pushing fifty?”

“Asking a women her age is rude.”

“Bite me.”

“It's on.”

Before Laura could lean down to grab Stiles, Zeke jumped on her causing her to trip over her own feet and fall to the ground with a pile of fur on top of her. She let out a groan and pushed Zeke’s muzzle away from her face so he would stop licking her. Zeke gave a huff at the gesture then trotted over to Stiles with his tail wagging excitedly behind him as he went. As a reward, Stiles started to scratch Zeke behind the ears while he called him a good boy and made silly faces at him.

“One of these days I'm going to get you.”

“And my little wolf, too?”

* * *

 

Stiles picked up his lacrosse stuff and threw it over his shoulder without bothering to check whether someone was behind him or not. The bag smacked Derek in the chest then fell to the ground with a loud clatter that pulled Stiles’s attention away from the shirts he was looking under. He gave Derek the best smile he could muster then turned back to the gigantic mess in his backseat he was trying to look through. Derek picked up the bag and placed it gently on the hood of the Jeep so someone else’s Soul Animal didn’t accidently get in like Finstock’s tree frog has been known to do.

“Not that I don’t think you need to clean this mess up, but why are you doing it in the middle of the school parking lot?”

“I can’t find my phone. I’ve looked everywhere! The last place I remember putting it was in my bag before lacrosse practice, but it’s not there.”

“Are you sure you didn’t leave it in your locker?”

“I’m positive. I took it out after I showered and sent a text to my dad to double check he’s going to be home for dinner tonight. After I did that, I put it in my bag. A bag that has apparently eaten it! That’s the only logical explanation at this point.”

Derek rolled his eyes fondly and wrapped his arms around Stiles’s waist supportively. “Do you want me to try calling your phone?”

“It’s on vibrate.”

“Of course it is. Have you pulled everything out of your bag to check and see if it got caught up in one of your shirts or something like that?”

“Yes. I think.” Stiles scrunched up his nose as he reached for his bag and started going through all the contents in it once again. “You might have been on to something.”

Derek smiled and pressed a kiss to the tip of Stiles’s nose knowing that it would lead to it smoothing back out. “Glad to be of service. Now do you have everything you need?”

“Phone, school bag, lacrosse bag, Lissie. That’s everything.”

“What about your keys?”

“Right here. Anything else I’m missing?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” Stiles ran his hands slowly up and down Derek’s biceps while biting on his bottom lip and looking up at Derek through his lashes. “I just thought you might think of something I wouldn’t. You’ve got such a great memory.”

“Are you flirting with me by complimenting me on my ability to remember things?”

“It sounds less sexy when you say it like that.”

“I don’t think there’s any way you could say that, that would make it sound sexy.”

Stiles sighed and shoved Derek away so he could shut the rear door that had been open. “You’re ruining things again. I try to be romantic and flirty and sexy and you just go and throw a wrench in it.”

“Having a good memory isn’t sexy.”

“Maybe it is to me.”

“You want me to believe that you think my ability to remember things is sexy?”

“I happen to think intelligence is sexy and being able to remember things falls under that category. Thank you for making me feel ridiculous about thinking that.”

“Stiles.” Derek tried to grab one of Stiles’s hands, but Stiles was quick to yank it away from him before he could. “You know I didn’t mean-”

“I know. We can talk about this later. I’ve got to get home and start dinner.”

“But-”

“I’m not mad. I’m not. I just really need to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Stiles gave Derek a brief kiss on the cheek then awkwardly shuffled around the Jeep as quickly as he could manage leaving Derek completely dumbstruck where Stiles had shoved him earlier. “Bye?”

* * *

 

“I think I messed up.”

Isaac laughed evilly at the utterly confused and devastated look on Derek’s face before he motioned his best friend inside. “What’d you finally end up doing that pissed Stiles off? Did you insult Lissie again? Did you insult Batman? Did you insult his Jeep?”

“I love Lissie. I wouldn’t insult her.”

“So was it Batman or his Jeep.”

“Neither! He was flirting with me and I upset his feelings, but I don’t understand why. He normally likes it when we banter like that.”

“We haven’t even been talking for five minutes and I already feel like I need a drink.”

“You’re sixteen, you don’t need a drink.”

“If I have to talk to you about your relationship problems with Stiles, I definitely need a drink no matter how old I am.”

“Well I’d prefer if you stayed sober for this.”

“Fine, but you owe me.” Isaac plopped down onto the couch and waited for Derek to do the same before he started talking. “So what exactly happened?”

“He was acting all flirty and said something about my memory being sexy and I started poking fun at it then he got all defensive and shut down. It was strange.”

“I can’t begin to tell you how weird that sounded, but maybe Stiles was just having a bad day. He was a lot quieter than normal in class.”

“Really? Did something happen?”

“I don’t know. There is someone who would though.”

Derek sat up a little straighter in interest like a wolf perking up at a sound. “Who? Who would know?”

“Scott. He’s known him since he’s been in diapers. He’ll know why Stiles has been acting weird today.”

“That makes sense. Scott would know. How do I get in touch with Scott?”

“Don’t you have his number?”

“No. Why would I?”

“Because he’s your boyfriend’s best friend and he’s on the lacrosse team?” Isaac shook his head in exasperation and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll give him a call. He might not answer because he’s probably working at Deaton’s, but I’ll let you know what he says. You should prepare to grovel. It wouldn’t surprise me if a little grovelling is all you need to do.”

“Thanks for doing this.”

“It’s no problem. As disgusting as you two are, you’re a lot less of an asshole since you’ve been dating him. You’ve also been less grumpy. I like less grumpy Derek.”

Derek let out a low growl and pushed himself off the couch so he was towering over Isaac. “Make the call.”

“No need to get all serial killer on me. You’ll be making up with your boyfriend in no time at all.”

* * *

 

“Derek? Now’s not really a good time.” Stiles was leaning heavily against the doorframe with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. “I told you that I’d talk to you at school tomorrow.”

“I know you did. I wanted to check and make sure you’re okay.”

“Why?”

“Because I care.”

Stiles ran a shaky hand through his hair and looked down at his shoes instead of looking Derek in the eyes. “How did you find out?”

“Scott.”

“Right. Come on in then. I assume you don’t plan on leaving until you’re sure I’m alright.”

“I’ll leave whenever you want me to. The only reason I came over was to see if you needed some company. I’ll go if you want me to.”

“Really?”

“Whatever you need.”

Stiles’s breath caught in his throat at the earnest look on Derek’s face and he fought the urge to completely breakdown in his own doorway. His arms wrapped around Derek’s neck so he could pull the older teen close enough to bury his face against his neck. Derek immediately began to rub his back, trying to urge the tension out of the muscles so tightly bunched up. Stiles tightened his fingers so he had something solid to grip a hold of tightly.

When it became clear Stiles didn’t plan on moving any time soon, Derek put his hands on the back of Stiles’s thighs and easily hoisted him up. Gangly legs wrapped around Derek’s waist giving him plenty of room to maneuver the two of them to the couch. Stiles let his head bounce along with the steady rhythm of Derek’s feet without a care in the world that his neighbours might have just seen Derek carrying him inside.

Derek carefully arranged the two of them so they were lying side-by-side on the couch completely pressed together from head to toe. A sniffle broke the silence every so often until the tears Stiles had been letting fall down his face finally stopped. He brought a hand up to wipe away the tears and snot streaking his face so Derek wouldn’t see what a mess he was. Before he could finish, Derek adjusted their faces so he could see his boyfriend’s face.

“Feel better?”

“Relatively.” Stiles played with the hem of Derek’s shirt as a way of distracting both of them from the current line of topic.

“I know it’s probably hard to talk about, but I want you to know that I’ll listen if you want to talk.”

“Okay. Um, can we not talk about it right now? I don’t want to start crying again.”

“Whatever you want.”

“You’re amazing. I know I always say stuff like that to you, but I totally mean it. You’re all grumpy and growly at everyone, except me. You’re like a marshmallow or a teddy bear. Whenever I need you to just be there for me or hold me, you’re there. Even after I yelled at you for no reason at all.”

Derek pressed a kiss to his forehead to try to calm him down some. “I understand. It’s fine. I can be your verbal punching bag when you need me to be.”

“That’s called verbal abuse, Derek!”

“Sure. If you did it all the time, but I know you won’t. You would never do that.”

“How do you have so much faith in me? I don’t even have that much faith in me.”

“Because I see you as you are. You’re intelligent, funny, sarcastic, a complete pain in the ass, loyal, and caring. Those are the things I see when I look at you. That’s why I have faith in you because I know who you are as a person.”

“Now you’re going to make me cry.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“I know.” Stiles let out a sigh and started to tap out a familiar rhythm onto Derek’s arm before he even realized he was doing it. “I miss her so much.”

“You’ll see her again someday.”

“I wish she would have met you. She definitely would have liked you.”

“And I’m sure I would have liked her.”

“You would have. She loved to rump around in the woods and all those depressing classic novels you like to read and she would have spoiled Zeke with homemade treats. She used to make them for our Soul Animals all the time. I have all her recipes on my laptop.”

“She sounds incredible.”

“She was.”

* * *

 

“Think fast!”

Stiles turned around in confusion at the loud shout that somehow trumped all the other loud noises filling the school hallway. He immediately regretted that decision when something came barrelling through his legs causing him to go up and over whatever it was. His shoulder slammed into the floor followed shortly after by his head. The sound of Lissie letting out a pained yip made it obvious to Stiles she hadn’t managed to jump off his shoulders in time to avoid slamming into the floor along with him.

Stiles groaned loudly then flipped himself over like a fish out of water so he could try to figure out what sent him sprawling to the floor. The smiling dingo standing over him began chuckling as soon as Stiles laid eyes on him just like his owner probably was. A swift flick to the nose had Ringo reeling backwards so he ended up colliding with the lockers behind him in his confusion. An indignant look twisted the dingo’s face and brought a satisfied smile to Stiles’s.

“You’re a dick.”

“Don’t I know it?” Isaac held out a hand for Stiles to grab a hold of then pulled the boy up as soon as he had a firm grip on him. “You seen Derek this morning?”

“Nope. I haven’t seen any of the Hales actually.”

“I am not carrying around his stupid crosse all day.”

“Go put it in his locker.”

Isaac gave Stiles a bitch face that had the older teen rolling his eyes. “I don’t have his locker combination.”

“Well you could ask.”

“You know his locker combination?”

“Does it really surprise you?”

“No.”

Stiles grabbed a hold of one end of Isaac’s scarf and tugged the teen in the direction of the locker room through the mess of people. Their two Soul Animals ran ahead of them making a clear path for the two boys to walk straight through without having to worry about running into anyone. The locker room quickly came into view and Finstock along with it. His tree frog was hanging limply on the lanyard of his whistle looking like it didn’t have a single care in the world.

“Stilinski! Where’s Hale? I need to talk to him.”

“The one morning Derek isn’t here, everyone needs him. I don’t know, coach.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? The two of you are practically attached at the hip.”

“But we aren’t actually attached at the hip. If you heard a rumor that we are, it isn’t true.”

“Don’t sass me. Let him know I want to talk to him when you see him and hurry up and get to class. I can’t have my players being tardy.”

“I’d be able to get to class a lot quicker if we could get into the locker room already.”

Finstock pointed a threatening finger at Stiles then marched in the direction of his classroom without another crazy comment. After Stiles shook his head to get his thoughts back together, he pushed open the door to the locker room and hightailed it straight to Derek’s locker. His fingers nimbly turned the lock one direction then the other and back again until he finished putting in the last number with a flick of his wrist. Stiles pulled open the door to the locker and motioned for Isaac to put the crosse in the nearly empty locker.

“When exactly did Derek decide to give you his locker combination?”

“He didn’t.”

Isaac fumbled with the crosse causing it to bang around in the locker. “What do you mean he didn’t? Derek doesn’t know you have his locker combination?”

“Oh, he knows. He just didn’t have to tell me what it was.”

“Do I even want to know how you figured it out?”

“All I did was watch him put his combination in a couple of times. I didn’t do anything crazy or all super spy like.”

“Remind me to never unlock my locker around you.”

“I already know yours.”

“Damn it.”

“I’m waiting for the right time.” Stiles smiled evilly then slammed the locker shut to emphasize his point. “You’re really going to enjoy it. I have it all planned out.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re making that up to freak me out.”

“Am I? Am I?”

“Asking me a question isn’t going to make me doubt myself.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No?”

“Derek’s totally right. You’re so easy to manipulate.”

Isaac was left gaping in the locker room with his Dingo completely confused at his side while Stiles whistled happily to himself and Lissie on the way to class.

* * *

 

A drop of rain fell right on the tip of Stiles’s nose then slide down the side of his face after a few seconds of deciding which way it was going to go. Lissie immediately licked up the water trail with a happy purr and plopped down next to Stiles so she could get any more water that decided to land on her owner’s face. Part of Stiles wanted to push Lissie away before she covered his face in saliva, but a bigger part of him was much too comfortable to move even a millimeter.

Stiles let out a happy sigh then opened up his eyes so he could look up at the dark grey sky right above his head. The rain clouds looked so fluffy Stiles was sure they would make a better pillow than the stick and leaf covered ground under his head. If Lissie was able to sit still for longer than thirty seconds, Stiles would consider using her as a pillow considering how puffy her fur is.

“This is Hale property. You can't be here.”

Stiles rolled over onto his stomach and smiled up at the dark figure standing over him. “Well it's a good thing I'm friends with them.”

“Just friends?”

“There is this one. We’re a bit more than friends. Some might call us Soul Mates, but we’re supposed to be taking it slow.”

“Supposed to be?” The person knelt down so they were hovering partly over Stiles.

“Neither of us are very good at taking things slow.”

“Sounds like a perfect match.”

“You could say that.”

Derek pressed a kiss to Stiles’s forehead at the same time his slipped his arms under Stiles’s shoulders and hoisted him up. “It's going to start raining soon and you don't need to be out in it.”

“But you know I love the rain.”

“I know, but you had pneumonia less than two months ago. Do you really want to end up in the hospital with it again?”

“No…”

“Then let's go.”

“Does that mean I get your jacket?” Stiles bit his lip and looked up through his eyelashes knowing that would get Derek to say yes and he wasn't disappointed. “Thanks, Sourwolf. You're the best.”

“I'm getting that back.”

“Of course you are.”

“I mean it, Stiles. That's my good leather jacket. I want it back.”

“Are you sure about that? You've got a look on your face that says differently. I think you like the way I look in your jacket.”

“You look amazing in everything. Including that red hoodie you love that isn't my jacket.”

“You're a party pooper.”

Derek grabbed a hold of one of Stiles’s arms and started dragging him in the direction of the Hale house. “That's me.”

“I'm glad you acknowledge it. Where’s Zeke?”

“Back at the house. I didn't want him to get all wet and muddy.”

“How sweet. It's because you don't want to give him a bath, isn't it?”

“Yes. You know how terrible he is during bath time.”

“He's just having a little fun.”

“A little fun that ends in the bathroom being covered in soap and water.”

“Water evaporates. Easy clean up.”

“It's not an easy clean up and you know it. You're lucky your Soul Animal is tiny.”

“Seriously?” Stiles stopped walking so he could Derek his best bitch face. “You have met Lissie, right? She's not exactly calm on a regular basis. You think getting put in a bunch of water makes things any better?”

“She is just as hyper as you are.”

“We take pride in being hyper. It's one of the most lovable traits about us and if people can't see that, then we don't want to be around them.”

Derek hummed and wrapped a firm arm around Stiles’s waist to encourage him to start moving forward once again. Stiles huffed knowing exactly what Derek was doing, but went along with him anyways since he knew his dad would kill him if he found out he got caught out in the rain. His little fox was bouncing ahead of them so she had time to roll around in the small piles of leaves scattered around the forest floor.

When the Hale house finally came into view, the first signs of the rain turning from simple sprinkling to actual downpour were beginning. The arm around Stiles’s waist moved to the small of his back to urge him forward faster. Stiles grumbled under his breath and tried to keep from tripping over his own feet in front of the whole Hale house. There were undoubtedly a few Hale’s watching from the windows of the house that would laugh mercilessly at him if he ended up tripping.

The door to the Hale house was flung open before Derek and Stiles reached the house giving Zeke the perfect opportunity to break free. The huge wolf came sprinting out of the house at full speed and tackled Lissie to the ground in his haste to get to her. A startled yelp answered Zeke’s hit, but was quickly followed up by Lissie letting out a happy shrieking noise. Zeke picked himself off her with a lick then started to nudge her in the direction of the house like Derek was doing with Stiles.

“Look at them. So sweet.”

“And they both have the right idea.”

“I get it! I'm going! Yeesh.”

* * *

 

Stiles watched in disgust as Zeke and Dingo snapped at each other over the poor deer they had managed to take down while they were all out on a run. He had never been more grateful that Lissie only occasionally indulged in hunting down a small bunny to chow down on. From the looks of it, Zeke and Dingo would go out every day to track down innocent Bambis to munch on. Lissie made a hacking sound like she was about to throw up then tucked herself further behind Stiles’s legs so she didn’t have to look at the scene in front of her.

“I one hundred percent agree with you on that one.”

Isaac smiled at Stiles creepily and slung his arm around Stiles’s shoulders like they were best buddies. “It’s just the circle of life. The natural order of things. They have to eat somehow.”

“You could feed them. Go the store, buy a nice piece of raw meat, put it on a plate.”

“They wouldn’t get the same satisfaction out of it.”

“I don’t particularly care. It’s gross.”

Stiles turned up his nose when Zeke started to trot over to Stiles with a large chunk of meat in his mouth. The wolf went around his legs so Zeke could set the piece of meat as close to Lissie as he could get without putting the meat on Stiles. All three teens watched in interest as Lissie poked her head out from where it had been pressed between Stiles’s calves. Lissie tilted her head to the side curiously, leaned forward to take a sniff of the meat, then immediately pulled back and ran up Stiles to get away from it.

A whine started up in Zeke’s throat and only got louder when Lissie continued to ignore the obvious plea for her to accept his gift. Zeke dropped flat onto his stomach and crawled forward pathetically trying his best to guilt Lissie into at least come down from her perch. The fox flicked her tail thoughtfully then seemed about ready to jump down until Ringo appeared and started gorging on the offered meat. Lissie scrunched her face up and turned around so she was no longer facing the awful scene below her and consequently Zeke as well.

“This isn’t going to be good.”

Stiles took several steps away from the two Soul Animals still on the ground and had absolutely no problem with being shoved behind Derek. Low growling filled the small clearing to the point that the happily munching dingo pulled his attention away from his meal to the angry wolf next to him. Ringo began to slowly back away from the meat, but this response didn’t appear to be good enough for Zeke who was moving towards the dingo. Zeke snapped his teeth close to Ringo nose causing him to stumble backwards in response leaving his belly exposed to Zeke.

A sharp clawed paw rose into the air and was preparing to sweep down until Lissie popped up into the empty space between the claws and Ringo’s belly. Zeke tried to gently nudge her out of the way, but the fox held her ground with a sharp snap of her teeth. At first Stiles thought Lissie had given Zeke a warning, but the bright red blood staining her teeth and shocked expression twisting Zeke’s face made it obvious she had actually bitten him. Lissie gave one last snarl then glared at Ringo until he moved to hide behind Isaac’s legs and was well away from the upset wolf staring at Lissie with longing.

Stiles and Derek exchanged looks of uncertainty since they had never seen their Soul Animals actually fight before. Even when Derek and Stiles were fighting, the two Soul Animals had always remained a united front that the two thought would never waver. Seeing the two obviously upset with one another was throwing the two boys through a loop and definitely not what they had been expecting to deal with this morning. Isaac gave them both apologetic looks and held out their water bottles like a peace offering.

“I knew getting out of bed early to go running was a terrible idea.”

“You just don’t like to get up early or exercising.”

“I’m not dignifying that statement with a response.”

“As you always like to point out, that is a response.”

Stiles punched Derek playfully on the arm then stepped carefully over the deer carcass so he could get back on the trail they had been running on earlier. “Why is it you always manage to throw the things I say right back in my face?”

“It’s something I picked up during the years I had to live with two diabolical sisters.”

“They aren’t that diabolical. You’re exaggerating!”

“Last time I checked, you don’t have to live with them so you don’t actually know that.”

“That true, but I do know that you have a tendency to blow things out of proportions.”

“I do not.”

“Denial is only going to make the problem worse. You have to accept it before you’ll be able to move on.”

“Are we seriously just going to ignore what happened?” Isaac glanced between the two several times then turned his attention back to the trail. “I guess we are going to ignore it.”

* * *

 

“Still fighting?”

Stiles sighed heavily and looked at where Lissie was curled up on the center of the lunch table where Zeke wouldn’t be able to reach her. “She sat on the bookshelf while we watched movies Saturday night because Zeke kept trying to nudge where she was lying on the back of the couch. You could practically feel the cold shoulder she was giving him.”

“She clearly learned from the best.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a master at being a bitchy ice queen when you’re pissed off at someone.” Erica popped a French fry into her mouth with a coy smile that Stiles wanted to smack off her face.

“I am not. Right, Derek?”

“Um.”

“Derek, answer the question.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

Derek groaned and looked ready to join Zeke under the table. “I don’t want to answer wrong.”

“There isn’t a wrong answer.”

“I’ve seen these scenes in the movies before. There is definitely a right answer so I’m going to keep my mouth shut.”

“You think I can be a bitchy ice queen if I’m mad at someone, don’t you?”

“Of course not.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” Stiles shoveled a spoon full of mac and cheese into his mouth so Derek would have to suffer through his chewing before he knew Stiles wasn’t mad at him. “At least I’m not one of those passive aggressive people that act like they’re fine with things even though they’re really upset.”

“You certainly don’t have a problem telling people how you feel.”

“I don’t think I should have to pretend to make other people feel better. If people don’t know there’s a problem, how can anything get fixed?”

“I thought you were more of a ‘ignore the problem until it goes away’ kind of person.”

“That’s for things like needing to go to the dentist and running out of eggs.”

“You’re so strange.” Derek was shaking his head like he couldn’t stop himself from doing it and slung an arm over the back of Stiles’s chair so he could pull him closer. “I don’t think I’m ever going to understand you completely.”

“Good. Wouldn’t want things to get boring.”

Everyone at the table watched Zeke shuffle his way out from underneath the table and into the spot that Stiles had been sitting in moments ago. He placed his head on the edge of the table with his eyes focused intently on where Lissie was curled up into a small ball. Lissie flicked her ears up in acknowledgement then looked ready to turn around so she wouldn’t be facing the sad looking wolf anymore. The heartbroken whine Zeke let out changed her mind and had her inching closer to him, but still just out of reach.

Stiles held his breath while he watched Zeke push his muzzle as far as it would go then let it all out when Lissie let Zeke rub against her face. This was all the encouragement Zeke needed to know that he was free to nuzzle and lick Lissie like he normally would. Lissie gradually moved closer to the edge so Zeke could get to more of her fur until she ended up hopping off the table. Zeke wasted no time at all before he was nosing Lizzie onto the floor then curling around her as tight as he could possibly manage.

“That’s it?” Erica looked almost disappointed at the fact the two Soul Animals didn’t cause a big scene in the middle of the school day. “Where’s the blood and the growling and the drama? I want the whole nine yards.”

“Sometimes you really worry me.”

“Your and Derek’s whole relationship has been exactly like one of those cheesy Soul Mate movies and Soul Animals always act crazy in those things.”

“Our lives are not like one of those bad movies. I can’t even believe you said that. We can’t be friends anymore.”

“You love me too much to get rid of me, Batman.”

“I guess you’re right.” Stiles pillowed his head on Derek’s shoulder so he could look down at the two Soul Animals curled up next to his chair. “Thank goodness they aren’t fighting anymore. They were both so miserable this weekend.”

“It’s probably a good thing they finally had a little spat. The first one’s always supposed to be the worst, right?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true, but it’s nice to know they aren’t going to be unbearable to the point we can’t be around each other when they fight. My mom used to tell me that she had this boyfriend that she couldn’t see for a week if their Soul Animals fought because they would attack each other.”

“I don’t think that was ever going to be an issue with them.”

“You never know.”

Derek chuckled lightly then pressed a kiss to the top of Stiles’s head. “If there’s one thing I’m absolutely sure of, it’s that our Soul Animals will never be able to stay away from each other for long. They care too much about one another to stay angry at each other.”

“They do, don’t they?”

“Yes, you don’t have to worry about the two of them. They’ll sort things out so they can go back to cuddling.”

“They really care about each other.”

“Yes, they do.” Derek tightened his arm around Stiles and gave a little squeeze that had Stiles melting into his body with a blissful sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has a request for a future story, just leave a comment and I'll make sure it ends up in one of the stories in the series. Thanks for reading!


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